Ketchikan, Alaska - While the "Bridge to Nowhere" steals
all the headlines, Ketchikan's airport ferries continue to chug
back and forth to the Ketchikan International Airport as they
have a dozen or more times a day for the past 30 years.

For the record, although there
is much talk of the bridge replacing a "five" or "seven"
minute ferry ride, it actually only takes between two and three
minutes most days for the airport ferry to traverse the quarter-mile
stretch of Tongass Narrows. The "five" to "seven"
minute figure applied years ago, when the airport ferry left
from a ferry slip closer to the Alaska Marine Highway terminal.

From the time in 1967 when
Gravina Island was chosen for the site of the new Ketchikan International
Airport, it was clear that access would be an issue. The floatplanes
and amphibians that had ferried passengers back and forth to
the Annette Island airport for three decades would be shifted
to other routes or retired. Most residents assumed a bridge would
connect Revillagigedo and Gravina islands in the near future,
but in the meantime some form of ferry service would be needed.

The 80-foot Abnaki.
The Abnaki was renamed the Dick Borch - after the longtime
leader of the Ketchikan Volunteer Rescue Squad.
Photo courtesy Lake Champlain Transportation Company

Initially local officials looked to private industry to provide
a ferry service but it quickly became apparent that the scope
of the operation - a ferry big enough to carry large vehicles
and dozens of passengers - would require the resources of local
government, specifically the borough.

The borough went on a nationwide
search and on August 12, 1971, nearly two years before the airport
was completed, it agreed to purchase the Lake Champlain vehicle
and passenger ferry Abnaki for slightly more than $100,000. Another
$30,000 was budgeted for modifications and delivery from the
East Coast. Originally, the borough had considered having a new
ferry built but the cost would have been more than $215,000.

The 80-foot Abnaki - named
after an Algonquin Indian tribe - had a capacity of 60 people
and 12 vehicles and had been built in 1967 by Blount Marine in
Rhode Island specifically for service on New York's Lake Champlain.
The Abnaki plied the southern waters of the 108 mile long lake
from Charlotte, Vermont to Essex, New York. It took the Abnaki
approximately 20 minutes to traverse the five mile width of the
lake between the two cities just south of Burlington.

But in only three years, its
owners were looking for a larger replacement.

"The increased popularity
and majestic beauty of the Charlotte-Essex crossing rendered
the Abnaki too small to handle the increased traffic," according
to a history of the Lake Champlain ferry system on the company
website.

The ship was sold to the borough
for $5,000 down with the remaining $99,000 due on delivery. But
first the ferry needed a modification.

"In order to pass under
the low bridges in the Champlain Canal the top half of the pilot
house was removed and lowered onto the main deck," according
to the company history. "The Abnaki began its 7,600 mile
journey down the Champlain Barge Canal, on the Hudson River to
Albany, New York, where the top half of the pilot house was reinstalled."

The Algonquin.
The Algonquin was renamed the Ken Eichner - after the founder
of Temsco Helicopters.
Photo courtesy Lake Champlain Transportation Company

The Abnaki sailed on to Blount Marine for additional work that
included expanding the crew area and fitting the ship with a
false bow for ocean travel. An enclosed area for walk on passengers
was also added.

In an August 12, 1971 article
in the Ketchikan Daily News, Borough Chairman Bob Boomer said
that buying the used ferry would accomplish two things, save
$80,000 and get the ferry to Ketchikan quickly so it could used
to carry supplies in the final phase of the airport construction
project.

After being modified in Rhode
Island, the Abnaki proceeded down the East Coast, through the
Panama Canal and up the West Coast to Ketchikan, where it arrived
in early December of 1971.

As planned, the Abnaki was
used to ferry supplies across the Narrows for the next year and
a half as the airport was completed. At the same time, ferry
slips were built on each side of the Narrows for the new ferry.

Less than two months before
the opening of the airport in August of 1973, a problem was discovered.

During the trial run of the
ferry into the new slip on the Gravina side, it was determined
that the ramp did not properly overlap the end of the ferry.
Since ramps on both sides of the channel were designed the same
way, modifications had to be made to both. At that point it was
feared that the problems with the ferry slips would delay the
opening of the airport which was then scheduled for June 29.
But the oft delayed airport opening ended up being delayed until
August anyway, for reasons unrelated to the airport ferry, according
to later reports in the Daily News.

No sooner than the airport
opened and the Abnaki began operating, it became clear that a
second ferry would be needed when the Abnaki was getting maintenance
or was out of service for mechanical reasons.

For example, the Abnaki had
mechanical trouble twice (cracked cylinders and shaft coupling
repairs) in December of 1973 and the Daily News reported that
that the School District's Sea Ed boat was used to ferry passengers
and a private barge was used for cargo.

Mt. Marcy
When Mt. Marcy arrived in Ketchikan, it was
rechristened the Bob Ellis after the local aviation pioneer.
Photo courtesy Lake Champlain Transportation Company

In April of 1974, the borough purchased another ship - the Algonquin
- from the Lake Champlain ferry company. The Algonquin was nearly
identical to the Abnaki, having also been built by Blount Marine
a year later in 1968. It operated on the Grande Isle-Cumberland
crossing on Lake Champlain. It also had to have its top chopped
off and then put back on its trip down from upstate New York.
The total cost for the Algonquin was $185,000

With two ships in operation,
it was also possible to start offering service every 15 minutes
during peak periods.

In the early 1980s, it was
decided to rename the ferries. The Abnaki was named the Dick
Borch - after the longtime leader of the Ketchikan Volunteer
Rescue Squad. The Algonquin was renamed the Ken Eichner - after
the founder of Temsco Helicopters.

By the mid 1980s, the borough
was looking for a larger ferry to handle the increasing traffic
to the airport. Once again, it looked to the Lake Champlain Transportation
Company.

For just under $750,000, the
Mt. Marcy, a 100 foot, 21 car capacity ferry was purchased in
and brought to Ketchikan. It also underwent the same cabin chop
off and replacement that the other two ferries had undergone.
It was christened and went into service in January of 1988.

The borough also spent nearly
$500,000 to purchase part of a floating bridge from Washington,
which was brought up to Ketchikan to be used as the dock for
the airport ferries on Gravina

Ironically., the Mt. Marcy
was one of the ships built by Blount Marine to replace the Abnaki
on the Charlotte-Essex route on Lake Champlain. When it arrived
in Ketchikan, it was rechristened the Bob Ellis after the local
aviation pioneer. The Dick Borch (the Abnaki) was then sold to
a local entrepreneur and then resold to a British Columbia barge
and tug company.

In the late 1990s, it was decided to obtain another ferry to
replace the aging Ken Eichner. This time, rather than purchase
an existing ferry, the borough decided to have a new ferry built.
The contract for the $3 million, 116 foot ferry was given to
Ketchikan Ship and Drydock.

On Oct. 14, 2001, the new ferry
was christened the Oral Freeman in honor of the former mayor
and longtime state legislator who had died the previous week.
The ferry began regular service in February of 2002 and the Eichner
was sold to a local businessman shortly thereafter.

With the Ellis approaching
its 35th birthday next year, the borough is pondering its replacement.
It has asked the state Department of Transportation for a several
million dollar grant to cover the costs of a new ferry because
even if the bridge is built it won't be completed before the
Ellis replacement is needed to go on line.

Dave Kiffer is a freelance
writer living in Ketchikan, Alaska.
Contact Dave at dave@sitnews.us